‘Divine Beasts in Bondage’: New documentary explores daily reality faced by elephants used for tourist rides

‘Divine Beasts in Bondage’ is a short documentary with no narration or voiceover, allowing viewers to fully immerse themselves in the raw visuals and sounds of Amer Fort elephants’ suffering, forcing undivided concentration on their plight. Yet through this single real-time day, it reveals the deeper tragedy of their exploitation—a cruel cycle that has persisted since the 1970s and 1980s when elephant rides became a staple of tourism.

ASIAN MOVIE PULSE: “Divine Beasts in Bondage” is a 24 minute silent documentary set in the shadow of Jaipur’s Amer Fort, focusing on the daily reality faced by elephants used for tourist rides and ceremonial processions. Structured around a real time 24 hour cycle, the documentary follows one continuous day in the lives of these animals, from 5 AM marches to the fort, to carrying visitors up steep slopes under intense heat, brief pauses at Hathi Gaon, and late night transfers to wedding events located 50 to 100 kilometers away. The documentary was filmed covertly, with the crew posing as tourists and using handheld devices in an environment where visible filming equipment would not have been possible. SOURCE

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